Romo does wonders with young ‘cast of characters’

ARLINGTON – Dallas Cowboys coach Jason Garrett made what might have been the easiest decision of his coaching career when he pulled Tony Romo early in the second quarter Saturday night.

What more is there to see when your franchise quarterback goes 9 of 13 for 198 yards with two touchdowns in a turnover-free performance?

Propelled by Romo’s sparkling play and another robust outing by the first-team defense, the Cowboys downed the St. Louis Rams 20-19 in their regular-season dress rehearsal.

With the Sept. 5 opener at the Super Bowl champion New York Giants looming, Romo did everything right in leading Dallas (2-1) to a 17-3 lead. Directing three straight scoring drives while taking advantage of a secondary that included rookie cornerback Janoris Jenkins, Romo threw with pinpoint accuracy, easily escaped pressure and executed flawless fakes.

And he did it all while working with an unheralded group of receiving targets while tight end Jason Witten (spleen) and wide receivers Miles Austin (hamstring) and Dez Bryant (knee) watched from the sidelines.

“(Romo) has been a really good player in this league for a number of years and he’s done it with a lot of different kinds of guys, different receiving corps,” Garrett said. “This is the third or fourth time we’ve turned the receivers over. We’ve turned the offensive line over and we’ve turned the running backs over, and he just continues to play at a very high level”

Romo finished with a sterling 151.4 passer rating and would have had even better numbers had Kevin Ogletree not dropped an easy catch on a slant route.

All but ruled out by Garrett for Wednesday’s preseason finale against Miami, Romo, 32, is set to enter his seventh season as a starter after a turnover-free preseason in which he posted a 117.1 rating.

“He’s worked very hard with the different cast of characters he’s playing with, and they’re growing together,” Garrett said.
Romo’s TD tosses covered 61 and 38 yards and went to Dwayne Harris. Taking advantage of busted coverages by the Rams (1-2), the second-year wideout caught both balls in stride.

Harris finished with three catches for 118 yards. Attempting to keep pace in the battle for the No. 3 receiver job, Ogletree had five catches for 75 yards.

“The young guys stepped up and made plays tonight and we needed that,” Romo said. “Obviously, without Dez and Miles you’re never going to get everything the exact way you want. When they come back, that’s going to be an incredible boost for us. But it’s good to know we have some depth.”

Before delivering the deep ball for his first TD, Romo waited patiently for Harris to blow by Jenkins and linebacker James Laurinaitis on a post route. On the second score, he led Harris perfectly on an intermediate crossing pattern that ended with the 2011 sixth-round pick diving into the end zone after slipping past two tacklers at the 10-yard line.

“We have a drill where we split two defenders and we work on it every day at practice,” Harris said. “(Receivers coach Jimmy Robinson) always says it always comes up in a game and today it came up. It’s second nature now. You do it in practice every day, so now it just comes second nature.”

Harris said his “pretty good game” was a team effort.

“I give the credit to Tony and the offensive line,” Harris said. “Without them blocking for Tony and then Tony throwing the ball to me, I couldn’t have made the plays I was able to make.

“Overall, it was a really good game. I went out there and executed, which is what the coaches wanted to see.”

Romo was asked about his comfort level with the young receivers.

“You get a feeling, you get a sensation you think is good, but what happens then is you’ve got to be able to go out and prove it,” Romo said. “You’ve got to go out to the game and you’ve got to execute well. I thought our team did that tonight. Our young guys knew what they were doing and it showed. They did a good job.”

That’s a far cry from how Romo felt last week when he showed frustration during practice with some of the young wideouts.

“He’s a passionate guy,” Garrett said. “He’s passionate about football. He’s passionate about life. He wants things to go well. He works very hard for things to go well for him and for our football team. When they don’t go well, sometimes you show your emotion and that’s a natural reaction for someone who has put so much into things.

“At the same time, you have to maintain your poise, your composure and you have to work on the solution. He’s worked very hard with the different cast of characters he’s been playing with and I think they are growing together. That’s a good thing.”